Grand jury returns lewd conduct indictment

SANDPOINT — A Bonner County grand jury is indicting a Sandpoint man on a suite of child sex crimes.

Jess Robert Logan made an initial appearance in Bonner County Magistrate Court on Friday via videoconferencing with the Bonner County Jail. Judge Lori Meulenberg sustained Logan’s $100,000 bail and set an arraignment date in 1st District Court for July 9.

The unsealed indictment charges Logan with three counts of lewd and lascivious conduct and two counts of sexual abuse of a minor. Logan is further accused of engaging in bestiality.

The alleged abuse occurred between the September 2013 and April 2015, when the two alleged victims were about 6 and 8 years old, respectively.

Logan is accused of touching both girls’ genitals and engaging in genital-on-genital contact with the 6-year-old. He’s further accused of exposing the girls to pornographic videos and having oral sex with a dog.

Logan was prosecuted in 2015 for engaging in lewd conduct with one of the alleged victims named in the indictment. The case was ultimately dismissed because the girl had essentially shut down, which hampered prosecution of the case, Bonner County Prosecutor Louis Marshall said after Friday’s hearing.

However, charges were revived and expanded with after grand jury proceedings earlier this month. The indictment resulted in a $100,000 bench warrant issued by district Judge Barbara Buchanan, which Logan said he turned himself in on.

Meulenberg appointed a public defender to represent Logan.

“I know the last time that I was in here on the same type of stuff I was able to get out on my own recognizance. I request I be able to do that again so I can get out and get these affairs taken care of,” Logan told the court.

Meulenberg, however, declined to disturb Logan’s bail.

“I’m not going to do that. Judge Buchanan reviewed the indictment and she set the warrant at $100,000 and so I am not going to change that,” Meulenberg told Logan.

If convicted on the lewd conduct charges, Logan faces the prospect of lifelong imprisonment. The sexual abuse charges are punishable by up to 25 years in prison and the infamous crime against nature charge is punishable by no less than five years in prison.

Keith Kinnaird can be reached by email at kkinnaird@bonnercountydailybee.com and follow him on Twitter @KeithDailyBee.